Winter's Child - A Narutoverse FanFic
by bellearctic
Summary: Fubuki no Seppen: 17, ANBU-rank, silent, deadly, sad.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Fubuki no Seppen of the, well, Fubuki clan of the Hidden Leaf had a few doubts about herself. Sure, she grew up with a loving family that consisted of her parents and her older brother, Kouri. And that made her a normal girl, right?

Maybe not.

First of all, she graduated the academy at age 7, which was impossible in the eyes of the public. She then became head of the ANBU Corps at age 13, and by then her fellow clansmen saw in her a great potential that could lead to a thriving of their clan. She was greatly becoming the legend of her time, and bright was her future.

One fateful night, everything changed.

 _~Flashback~_

 _The leaves rustled softly in the wind as a young girl of 15 leaped from branch to branch with a touch of grace. The moonlight bounced off her straight, snow-white hair that ended just below her chest, and it reflected off of her unusually fair skin._

 _She couldn't wait to get home to her loving parents._

 _'Aren't you tired?' her brother, Kouri, asked on the ground below. She stuck out a tongue at him._

 _'Last one to the village is a rotten cabbage!' she suddenly exclaimed before dashing off into the trees._

 _It was an empty challenge. In aspects of speed, she had yet to surpass her older brother. But she loved to challenge him. One could say it was one of her favourite pastimes._

 _A shriek in the air took her by surprise. 'S-SEPPEN!'_

 _It unmistakably belonged to her brother, who had already reached the village before her. The fear in his voice was evident._

 _Curious and confused, she picked up pace._

 _As she neared the village, an unfamiliar stench filled her nose. She had a weird feeling in her gut. Something wasn't right._

 _Nearing her brother, she called out, 'Kouri, what-'_

 _The scene before her made her lightheaded._

 _Bodies of her clansmen lay around, scattered, battered and bloody. The young girl had to refrain herself from throwing up the dinner she had 15 years ago._

 _'Let's go find mum and dad.' Kouri's voice was firm. It was clear he was trying to be strong. She nodded._

 _Stepping over bodies and weapons, she felt the fear grow. Excitement filled her as they approached home, and she dashed inside._

 _'Seppen!' her brother called after her. 'Baka... it's dangerous!' He followed after her._

 _She ran down the halls and up the stairs. Turning into another hall, she neared her parents room at the end of the hall._

 _She felt her heart skip a beat as she dashed into the room._

 _'Otousan!' she exclaimed, voice barely above a whisper. 'Okasan!'_

 _They lay on the wooden floor, blood pooling around them. She fell to her knees, tears in her lilac eyes._

 _'Seppen!' her brother exclaimed, throwing his arms around her. She felt warmth at her shoulder where her brother rested his head. At first she assumed it to be natural, she felt dread when she shoulder felt... wet._

 _'K-Kouri?' She slowly turned her head and saw the blood flowing from her brother's open lips, and noticed the stained blade protruding from his left torso._

 _A figure stood at the door, explosive tags in hand. four more stood in the room, surrounding her._

 _Seppen had never felt this amount of pain in her life._

 _'Child...' There was a voice inside her. 'Let me help you.'_

 _'Who are you?' she spoke out loud between tears. The assassins closed in on her._

 _'I am Nadare, dear child... I've known you all my life...'_

 _'Help me, please!' she cried, her brother's body sliding onto the floor._

 _'Nobody can help you now,' one of the men spoke gruffly, lifting his blade._

 _'I will, child.'_

 _That was all she heard before a surge of coldness ran throughout her body. There was a growing pain below her chest, and she screamed, throwing her arms out._

 _White washed over the whole area, ending the assassins. It was done, and the physical pain gone. Seppen stared at the white snow, stainless, pure._

 _'I am the Arctic Wolf, Seppen,' the voice came again. 'I was sealed in you during your birth. Unlike the Tailed Beasts, I am sealed in you not because I needed to be contained and suppressed, but because too many seek my power. Sleep now, child. You are tired.'_

 _~End of flashback~_

It occurred just like the Uchiha Clan massacre, and it shocked everyone across the five great nations. The event left a great effect on the young Fubuki. Her personality wasn't what it was before, sunny, bright and friendly, but cold, silent, and wary.

It had been two years after the historical tragedy. Seppen still stayed in the Leaf Village, and worked with the current Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The abandoned cup of tea, now cold, sat lonely on the desk of Sandaime Hokage.

'We've had reports of rogues in the forest attacking the patrolling ninjas,' the elderly man spoke, face hidden beneath the shadow of his hat. A file was placed on the edge of his table. 'We need you to go have a look. If they are hostile, don't hesitate to engage in battle.'

The shinobi nodded, and opened her mouth to ask for permission to leave when the Hokage raised his head.

'Remember, don't take them on if you know it's not going to end well.'

A smile crept onto her face. Sarutobi Hiruzen knew her so well it annoyed her sometimes.

'Understood?'

'Understood.'

 _Mission report: enemy successfully subdued._

Seppen tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she retrieved her kunais. Casually stepping over a body, she froze at the sound of rustling leaves.

The forest was now tranquil once more. As she picked up the last of her throwing knives, the girl gave one last look into the trees before returning to the village.

After reporting the mission status to the Hokage, Seppen decided to head to the fruit stalls for a quick break before going to the Academy.

The kunoichi grabbed an apple and handed the friendly old woman a few ryos.

As she walked off, there was a faint flapping sound, and Fubuki Seppen turned to the direction of the sound, to see a bird. On its leg was a letter.

The flying messenger landed on her outstretched finger, and let the girl remove the paper from it.

She bid farewell to the fowl, and unrolled the letter.

 _Seppen,_

 _Where are you? I know I said take your time but these genin are getting restless! T-T_

 _-Iruka_

Seppen flung the core of the finished fruit into a nearby trash can, making her way into the Academy.

After a moment or so of searching for the correct classroom, she stopped in her tracks as she was halfway passing by a class full of chattering and noise.

Instincts kicking in, she knocked on the door and entered.

The babbling and endless conversations of the young shinobi gradually quieted down as they began to notice her.

'Is she the special guest for today?'

'I'm not even going to lie, Shika, but she gives me the chills.'

The kunoichi noticed the teacher at the corner of the classroom, half-dead. 'Y-you made it!'

'Did you?'

The lesson started, and before Seppen could say a word she was interrupted by a blond, spike-haired genin with scratch-like marks on his face.

 _The Kyuubi..._ Seeing as his hand was raised, she nodded.

'Iruka-sensei!' he called to his teacher, who was supposed to be passed out from fatigue on the podium.

'Naruto, I swear, if its another one of your stupid questions...'

'Are you sure she's the special guest for today? She looks like a ghost- OW!' A pink-haired girl had dealt a punch to the boy's hea, sending him into silence.

Supressing her smile, she scanned the class over. 'Shall we begin?'

Not a second longer than the words came from her, the door burst open and three chuunins stepped in.

'LEE!' a girl with her hair up in buns yelled. 'We can't interrupt their class!'

'But I want to improve my skills! Neji does too, right, Neji?'

'...'

'Silence means consent-'

'Can you guys please just take a seat?' Iruka groaned, lifting his head for the second time that day. The girl, flushed with embarrassment, dragged her two team members into the mass of students.

Not wanting to let dumb luck get the better of her, she stretched her arms. 'Let's begin.'

'We'll start off with ninjutsu.' The girl noticed the differences among the students, some attentive while some didn't even bother to pick their chins up from their desks.

'It's all in your chakra, hand signs, and your focus.' She went ahead to make a combination, but was stopped as Iruka cut in with a 'DON'T!'.

The fair-skinned shinobi took in her surroundings and realised her mistake before putting down her hands. The class groaned in disappointment.

'Maybe some other time,' she replied, smiling.

'Next, genjutsu.' Without being interrupted this time, she displayed a rapid mashup of seals. In mere seconds, the class was screaming.

'Oh my- GET THAT SPIDER AWAY FROM ME!'

'GET OFF! GET OFF!'

As the class was sent into a ruckus the girl and the teacher exchanged glances and laughed a little.

Seppen called off the genjutsu, and the class eventually settled down.

'Please don't do that again,' a voice was heard from the the audience.

The kunoichi gave a halfhearted nod, and proceeded with the lesson.

'There are many ways to combat genjutsu. Can anyone name one?'

A hand shot up into the air. She gestured for the genin to go ahead.

'If the victim experiences physical pain not inflicted by genjutsu, the victim may be able to come back to their senses.' The student sat back down as the lilac-eyed shinobi nodded.

'Very good. An effect of genjutsu can also be broken if the chakra flow of the victim is disrupted. Members of the Uchiha clan, whom possess the Sharingan, are also rendered almost invulnerable to gen-'

Sudden squeals erupted from most girls in the classroom, their attention particularly focused on a raven-haired boy seated at the side. He maintained his cool, silent stature.

 _Cocky,_ she thought of the Uchiha boy, before resuming class.

'Taijutsu is the optimisation of martial arts or the body's abilitie. It does not require chakra, but chakra can be used to enhance it.' She stepped a bit more to the side. 'Can I have a volunte-'

'I WILL!' The chuunin from earlier, a young teen male with a bowl cut; 'Lee', came to the front of the class, almost _too_ enthusiastically. As excitement burned in his eyes, the girl looked at the class.

'We will be sparring with no use of special techniques involved,' she stated, getting into stance. 'Make your move, Lee.'

Without hesitation the green-suited boy rushed towards her, fist raised. She dodged, easily, but it was obvious that he was yet to show his true strength.

'Remember,' she advised, staring into the crowd. 'You've not won the match until your opponent falls unconscious.'

And suddenly she flipped the unseen arm over her shoulder, the boy taken by surprise.

'Simple, you see?' she concluded, bowing to Lee as she addressed the students. The boy, seemingly in awe, returned to his seat. 'Now, who prefers shuriken to kunais?'

As hands were raised, the girl turned her back on them and, in the blink of an eye, flung shurikens and kunais to the back of the room. There was a gasp as the genin ducked.

'Throwing knives and throwing stars, there's really nothing to it other than your accuracy. But please refrain from throwing stationery,' she noted, spinning around. The shuriken and kunais had pinned multiple pencils and pens to the back wall, and a row of mischievous boys at the back scratched the back on their heads, sheepishly.

Seppen made her way to the door.

'Wait!' She turned, and once again, it was the Uzumaki boy. She shifted in her position, so she faced him better.

'How did you become so...?' He struggled with his words, but Seppen knew.

'Train. No days off.' The first word barely made its grand entrance when she saw his figure slump a little. He was clearly getting used to the reply, but she wasn't finished yet. 'But what's more important is your spirit.'

He perked up once more.

'You're on your way, kid. Keep it up.'

A smile broke out on his face. He didn't get encouragement from most, and it saddened her.

'Work hard on the Chuunin Exams, kids,' she offered, turning towards the door. 'Hopefully I'll see you guys around.'


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 _Darkness._ That was what welcomed her the moment her eyelids were lifted. She struggled to move, but restraints held her back.

The last thing she remembered was going for a last round in the forest.

And a pair of red eyes.

 _Very red eyes..._

A door clicked open, and she squinted at the first ray of light. A light was switched on.

'Fubuki no Seppen...' a deep, gruff voice greeted. The girl was somewhat taken aback at the sight of a man with orange hair, and piercings all over his face. If it was for dramatic effect, it sure worked.

But it were his purple, ringed eyes that caught her attention. And the longer she stared at the man, the deeper she was sent into thought.

 _Yahiko?_ she thought, not believing what stood before her. She had heard about the tragedy that occurred years ago, and on occasion had seen a picture of the boy who was killed.

Another figure entered the room, and, being able to see clearly now, she noticed the distinctive blue hair and paper flower the lady wore in her hair.

The thought did not come across Seppen's mind before, but as the two stood together, she had a hunch built up. Looking at their attire, she felt herself slightly spin.

 _Pein and Konan..._

'Akatsuki...' she muttered, cursing herself for her carelessness. There was no chance of her getting out of here. First of all, these were _S-Rank_ criminals she was facing. Second of all she was aware of the chakra seal on her forehead.

'Graduated the Academy at age seven, head of the ANBU Corps at 13.' The kunoichi realised the man was reading out of a file.

'The last trace of Fubuki Blood,' he concluded, snapping the folder shut. Her lilac orbs flashed, and she growled.

'What do you want?'

'It's simple, really,' Pein pointed out. His eyes were fully on her now. 'We want you.'

The usually fast mind of the white-haired shinobi took a while to process that. She gave a little laugh, bewildered.

'This is not a joke, Fubuki,' Konan stated, deadpanned.

'Uhuh, and a bunch of other S-rank criminals are just going to walk in and verify that-'

Fate had seven silhouettes enter. From the left to the right were a blond, whom she recognised as Deidara, the rogue Iwa shinobi; a short, scorpion-like man in which she knew was Akasuna no Sasori, the rogue puppetmaster of the Hidden Sand; a silveret Jashinist by the name of Hidan from Yugagakure; a partially masked man whom she knew as Kakuzu of Takigakure; a dark-haired, orange-masked man whom she did not recognise; a man whose gills and blue hair revealed him to be Hoshigaki Kisame of the Hidden Mist and a raven-haired man whose eyes showed her more than she needed to see.

Uchiha Itachi of the Hidden Leaf.

 _Red eyes..._

And she remembered the flash of red before she found herself waking up in this room.

'Your talents and skills have exceeded the expectations of many,' Pein continued, face still slightly shadowed beneath the high collar of his cloak. 'And it may prove useful to the Akatsuki in the future.'

'You think that I'd join your little organisation?' she questioned, icily.

'You have no choice-'

'4 months is all we'll give you,' Konan cut in, earning an inquiring stare. 'We'll leave you to roam around the base, but remember that either of the 10 of us need just a mere hand seal to kill you.'

Seppen groaned inwardly. They put something in her, of course.

As if she had read the white-haired kunoichi's mind, Konan gave a wry smile. 'We'll only remove it when you join us.'

' _If_ I join you,' the girl corrected.

No words were said as the restraints were undone, and she landed on the floor neatly. She did a head count.

'You said 10,' Seppen muttered, turning to Konan. 'I count 9.'

'Zetsu's gathering intel,' Sasori informed, in a bored tone.

Pein nodded, then turned to the captive. 'Don't even attempt to escape. Unless you'd prefer a slow death than a quicker one.'

With that, the leader of the group made his exit, the other members slowly following him out, leaving Seppen, Konan, and the raven-haired male.

The latter eventually left, which made it the two females.

'I guess I'll show you around,' the woman suggested, beckoning her out the door.

The base was equipped with facilities, some as advanced as the ones the girl had seen back in the village, and some far better. They had multiple training grounds, all situated below general base area.

'You know,' the bluenette admitted as she came to a halt in front of a door. 'You're not so bad.'

'And I suppose you don't _exactly_ emit an aura of murder,' Seppen replied, to which the woman chuckled.

'These are the rooms.' The kunoichi's lilac eyes took notice of the five doors before her. 'Two members share a room, and said two are usually a team. At the end of the hall you can find Deidara and Sasori, followed by Kisame and Itachi, Hidan and Kakuzu, then finally Zetsu and Tobi.'

'And you?' The bluenette looked to the young shinobi, and smiled.

'Leaders don't sleep.'

Seppen's face screamed 'Uhuh', but she remained polite, and responded decently with an 'okay'.

'Eh...' Brushing off the fact that no one was ever going to believe her when she threw that line, Konan gestured to the last door, situated at the very beginning of the hall. 'This is your room.'

The girl silently exhaled in relief that she would not have to bear the pain to be 'roomies' with anyone.

'Settle in, okay? Take a walk around, or whatever. Maybe Tobi's succulents would convince you to stay.' Seppen rolled her eyes at the droll joke.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Sprawled across the bed, Seppen thought about her choices in her particularly sticky mess. No way in _hell_ was she going to join this bunch of lunatics. She could try to escape, but the kunoichi was a firm believer in the glaring reality that they could kill her under a minute. No, she could not escape.

She had contemplated about taking out the members one by one, but it was a dead-end thought. They would probably notice their sudden shortage of arms, and of course, badda bing badda boom, Victoria's Secret would be out.

Groaning, she rolled over. At least the bed was decent. The white-haired girl dragged herself from wallowing further into her thoughts and off the bed. She might as well go have a look around, right? After all, if she _did_ manage to get out of this, this Akatsuki intel would be useful to the village.

Twisting the doorknob, she stepped out. Maybe it was because she did so a little _too_ quickly, or maybe it was just a way for fate to mock her; she felt herself bump into an unlucky individual. Seppen prepared herself for a world of pain.

Turning over, she did a quick prayer that it wasn't Pein (no pun intended. Or were there?), nor any of the more easily upsettable criminals.

Instead, she was met with eyes, dark as night, yet shone as bright as day. The name Uchiha Itachi never came to mind, seeing those onyx eyes.

'Sorry...?' she offered, somewhat apologetic. His eyes widened a little.

'You don't...' The girl waited for him to complete his sentence as the Uchiha male trailed off.

'I don't what-'

'Itachi!'

Both heads turned to see Kisame approaching. Seppen looked at the man again, questioningly. When he didn't seem to have a response, she walked off, casually.

Kisame stood by his friend, until the girl was out of earshot. 'See, I _told_ you it would be taken care of!'

The raven-haired man chose not to reply.

'Hey, chick!' Fubuki no Seppen ignored the calls of the Jashinist, and found it to be progressively prove difficult by the moment.

'And people think _I'm_ irritating,' Deidara muttered, just loud enough for Hidan to hear. The latter threw him a threatening glare.

'Shut your trap, franny!' The silver-haired shinobi paused. ' _All_ your traps, while your at it,' he added, pointing to the blond's hands.

 _And these people were supposed to be S-rank criminals,_ she thought, rolling her eyes.

'So,' a certain blond piped up after having survived an insult-throwing fest, inviting himself to sit down beside the kunoichi. 'What did _you_ do to become an S -rank, un?'

 _Oh Kami._ He thought she was a criminal.

'She's not a fucking rogue, dumb ass,' Hidan snapped, sneering, 'For once in my life I actually _did_ pay attention to what people were saying-'

'I stole my village's kinjutsu,' the blond cut his fellow member off. The Iwa rogue showed her his palms, which had a little something extra compared to those of a normal human being.

'Put away your hands, Deidara,' Sasori grumbled, from his spot at the other end of the couch. Seppen stared, a _little_ intrigued at the extra opening on each hand.

'Just trying to break the ice here, un. Why don't you say something, Sasori no Danna? She doesn't look so bad.'

'Go figure, she works for the village.' With that, Sasori ended his part in the conversation.

'Huh.' Deidara stroked his chin. 'Sasori no Danna is more talkative than usual today, un.-'

'Don't make me kill you.'

~Timeskip brought to you by Kakuzu's Stitches~

It had been two months and 29 days since our protagonist had been kidnapped by the organisation of rogues. Surprisingly, she had formed relationships, rather well, with most of the members. Even Pein, she had discovered, seemed to feel somewhat like a father to her. She kind of hoped that this 'friendship' would help sway his 'join or be eliminated' mindset, but she wasn't going to count on it.

However, the person whom she really connected with the most, apart from Konan, was the Uchiha. It could be the fact that he was actually a big softie at heart, despite the calm and reserved demeanor he kept up every day. Or maybe it was the way he could talk to her and make her feel like he was a friend, that she wasn't as big as an outcast as she thought she was.

Currently, Seppen sat on the edge of her bed, which she had grown accustomed to burrowing her face into at night, holding nothing but her tired, pale face.

There was a knock on the door. 'Come in,' she called out, siting up straight.

Door opening, Itachi stepped in. 'May I?' he asked, gesturing to the bed. She nodded.

They sat for a while in silence before the male finally spoke up. 'You have a day left.'

'Thanks for the reminder,' she grumbled, sarcastically.

Another silence. 'What are you going to do?'

'I'll probably die trying to escape,' she sighed, running a hand through her hair. 'Don't get too attached to seeing this face, won't want it to hurt too much for you,' she added, jokingly.

'Too late for that.'

The words sent her mind into an unfamiliar blankness.

'I don't want them to kill you,' he continued, sliding himself closer to her.

'Funny if you turn out to be the one that kills me.'

'I would never. I'd rather let them kill me-'

The kunoichi sighed. 'You don't know what you're saying.'

'You're an _amazing_ person, Seppen.'

The Uchiha didn't give her a chance to answer as he came forward, and kissed her. She groaned, trying to break free, but his sweet, tempting pecks lured her in, deep and consuming.

'I love you,' he breathed, as he paused. 'And I won't let you die.'

'You can't possible do anything, baka,' she murmured, resting her head on his chest. 'And neither can I.'

Abruptly, he rose, and headed for the door. Just as he made his exit, he turned around. 'Since you're not doing anything about saving your life, I will.'


End file.
